Probate Shortcuts in Michigan

Save time and money when you wrap up an estate in Michigan.

Michigan offers some probate shortcuts for "small estates." These procedures make it easier for survivors to transfer property left by a person who has died. You may be able to transfer a large amount of property using simplified probate procedures or without any probate court proceedings at all -- by using an affidavit. And that saves time, money, and hassle.

Here are the ways you can skip or speed up probate. (If the affidavit procedure is used, there's no need to use the simplified probate procedure.)

Claiming Property With a Simple Affidavit

Michigan has a procedure that allows inheritors to skip probate altogether when the value of all the assets left behind is less than a certain amount. All an inheritor has to do is prepare a short document, stating that he or she is entitled to a certain asset. This document, signed under oath, is called an affidavit. When the person or institution holding the property -- for example, a bank where the deceased person had an account -- gets the affidavit and a copy of the death certificate, it releases the asset.

The out-of-court affidavit procedure is available in Michigan if the estate does not include real estate, and the value of the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, doesn't exceed $15,000. There is a 28-day waiting period. Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.3983.

Simplified Probate Procedures

Michigan has a simplified probate process for small estates. To use it, an executor files a written request with the local probate court asking to use the simplified procedure. The court may authorize the executor to distribute the assets without having to jump through the hoops of regular probate.

You can use the simplified small estate process in Michigan if:

1. The value of the gross estate, after payment of funeral and burial costs, is $15,000 or less. The court can order property turned over to surviving spouse or heirs. Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.3982.

or

2. The value of the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed homestead allowance, family allowance, exempt property, costs of administration, and reasonable expenses of last illness and funeral. Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.3987.

For More Information

For help determining if an estate qualifies for one of these probate shortcuts, or handling an estate in general, see The Executor's Guide, by Mary Randolph (Nolo), or Estate Planning Basics, by Denis Clifford (Nolo).